This question is frequently asked by those who care about birds — whether they are a scientist, a birder, or simply a nature lover — and answering it is the key first step to effective bird conservation. Operating year-round since 1966, the Palomarin Field Station provides a unique long-term perspective on West Coast bird populations.
The bird community changes with the seasons as migrants come and go, so we examine total capture rates of individual birds during each season and overall in each year. We explore fluctuations in the total size of the seasonal bird community each year and some of the factors contributing to these fluctuations including: local habitat changes, climate change and local weather, and migratory connectivity.
Although we study the entire community of birds at Palomarin, we pay particular attention to a suite of focal species to understand how they are doing and what is driving any changes over time. Select a species below to see how annual capture rates of our focal species are changing over time and what this means.
Present at Palo all year, these bird species often maintain their territories even during the nonbreeding season.
Present at Palomarin only for part of the year, Neotropical migrants spend the spring and summer breeding season with us, then migrate to the tropics of Latin America to spend their winter.
Neotemperate migrants spend the summer as far north as Alaska, and then migrate to spend the winter with us.
The capture rates of birds serve as indicators of population fluctuations, which are influenced by many factors. For year-round resident species, local factors like weather and habitat change may play a large role. For seasonally migrating species, their numbers may be influenced by changes anywhere along their migration route. By examining variation in capture rates, we can examine how bird populations are changing over time, and identify some of the important factors affecting our birds.
All of these data are collected by staff, volunteers, and especially the hundreds of interns who have trained at Palomarin over the years.
Since 1966, we have been mist-netting and banding birds at the Palomarin Field Station year-round. All birds are given uniquely-numbered bands provided by the U.S. Bird Banding Laboratory.
Watch how we collect banding data during a bird banding demonstration! Visitors can drop in and join our intern and staff biologists to learn how we collect these data — and hopefully see a bird in the hand! More information on visiting and scheduling groups.
Dependent vs. independent juvenile survival: contrasting drivers of variation and the buffering effect of parental care. Published in Ecology. [View PDF]
How safe is mist netting? Evaluating the risk of injury and mortality to birds. Published in Methods in Ecology and Evolution. [View PDF]
Effects of mist netting on reproductive performance of Wrentits and Song Sparrows in central coastal California. Published in The Condor. [View PDF]